Indexing a withdrawal from one’s previously-taken position
Using the multiple saying duì duì duì
in Mandarin Chinese conversation
Using conversation analysis as the research method, this article investigates what participants do with the
multiple saying duì duì duì (‘right right right’) when they take divergent positions in Mandarin Chinese
conversation. A participant may deploy duì duì duì to claim recalibrating understanding, which indexes a backdown
or withdrawal from a previously-taken position. There are two trajectories to make such concessions. One is “Claim X — Concession
(duì duì duì) — Claim Y”, with Y taking the co-participant’s perspective into account and duì duì
duì serving as a pivot for the new Claim Y. The other is “Claim X — Concession (duì duì duì)”, in
which conceding means abandoning. Through these trajectories, participants find out something different and implicate that their
prior action is problematic due to not taking something into account, so they concede and change. This article will contribute to
both concession and multiple sayings studies.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Literature review
- 2.1Making a concession or withdrawal from a previously-taken position
- 2.2Multiple sayings and the multiple saying duì duì duì
- 2.2.1
Duì and the multiple saying duì duì duì
- 3.Methodology
- 4.Making a concession from a previously-taken position with duì duì duì
- 4.1First-pair part (FPP) speaker conceding
- 4.1.1
Claim X — Concession (duì duì duì) — Claim Y
- 4.1.2Claim X — Concession (duì duì duì)
- 4.2Second pair part (SPP) speaker conceding
- 4.2.1
Claim X — Concession (duì duì duì) — Claim Y
- 4.2.2
Claim X — Concession (duì duì duì)
- 5.Discussion
- 6.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary
-
References